One of the first wave of assaults conducted by Task Force MAILED FIST, the SLDF landings on Persistence were a deliberately provocative move intended to judge the performance of the Rim Worlds Republic forces. Stationed on Persistence was a battalion from the Fifth Amaris Fusiliers, a unit that had chosen to remain loyal to First ConsulGregory Amaris.[3]

The Fifth Fusiliers hadn't been given any orders relating to the deployment of SLDF units on Persistence, and as a result put up a determined resistance against the invading forces; when the SLDF attempted to land at the Danderson City starport the inbound transport DropShips came under fire from both surface-to-air batteries located around the city and Republican aerospace fighters. The Seventeenth Royal Division had to launch a ground assault to secure the spaceport and allow further landings, and the Fifth Fusiliers continued to resist the occupation of Persistence; the SLDF managed to force the Fifth to concede by systematically securing the desalination plants that were key to keeping Persistence habitable, but the Fifth fought until the last plant had been captured.[3]

A destructive raid on Alarion prompted the SLDF to alter its initial strategy for the campaign, and the focus shifted to reducing Rim Worlds Army concentrations throughout the Republic. As a result the Seventeenth Royal Division found itself facing another Rim Worlds Army loyalist unit on Malibu in 2584,[4] where as a part of Battle Group Apollo the Seventeenth fought against the Third Amaris Dragoons.[5]

In late 2584 the SLDF changed tactics again; a number of major RWA units had been destroyed or captured, and the focus for the campaign shifted to capturing worlds of strategic importance, but the campaign was slowed by the greatly increased resistance offered by the RWA and local civilian populations, prompted by atrocities performed by the Draconis Auxiliary Corps when they captured Nightwish in mid-2584. The conquest of Derf was one such example of a campaign that took longer than originally planned due to the level of resistance offered by the civilian population; GeneralNathan Isaacson of Battle Group Apollo assigned the Seventeenth Royal Division to conquering Derf in 2586, but even a year after the planetary capital had been occupied instances of civil unrest were still occurring.[6][2]

The campaign for Taran's World in 2595 was the last campaign of the Reunification War for the Seventeenth, and the third time that the Seventeenth would face a line formation from the Rim Worlds Army - in this case, the Second Amaris Legionnaires. While Task Force MAILED FIST had already secured the approaches to Apollo, General Isaacson wanted to ensure that the Second Legionnaires were contained, as they were the last active Rim Worlds army unit outside of those formations located on Apollo itself. The Seventeenth secured Taran's World and remained on the planet until the end of Operation MAILED FIST in September 2596.[8]